Thomas Jefferson in Coin Storage
Thomas Jefferson will always be in coin storage and in your coin collection. He is best known as the writer of the Declaration of Independence. He was also the first Secretary of State and the third president. When he purchased the vast swathe of Louisiana Territory and sent forth Lewis and Clark to trace the Missouri river and reach the Pacific, he allowed slavery in the entire region, which would later nearly destroy the Union.
Although he held hundreds of slaves throughout his life as a Virginian plantation owner, he was against the international slave trade and advocated its abolition in 1807. During his second term in office he escalated trouble with Britain in an attempt to place an embargo on their trade, which caused a very negative reaction in the northeast. In recent decades his legacy has received a more negative tint from scholars, yet it is hard to judge him as a man outside of his time and to ignore his enormous achievements and talents. Jefferson spoke five languages and was an advocate of states’ rights. Today he can be found in coin storage on the two dollar bill and the nickel, and is right behind George Washington as most important founding father. He is almost always included in lists of the best presidents.
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Posted on: Thursday, October 27th, 2011 at 3:46 pm
Posted in: presidents
Tags: coin collection, coin storage